Dancing in the Dark

[Tango Distance]

The Tango Gavito festival is happening soon, in Los Angeles, California. 600+ attendees are anticipated, and the musicality lectures looked especially good. Anyway, one of the festival features is dancing in the dark. From the web site:

Neotango Festival Los Angeles | Gavito Tango Festival

Get tickets now for Neotango Festival Los Angeles at the Gavito Tango Festival and enjoy three nights of neo milongas.

gavitotangofestival.com

Nocturna – THE ART OF DARKNESS​

30 minutes that might just change your (tango) life

Explore the dark side of tango with us as we turn off the lights and dance to a sensual, intimate set of alternative and classical music, in complete darkness. You will wear a luminescent wrist band, and the ronda will turn into a beautiful field of floating fireflies. We will change partners after every song, magical connections will be made, your senses will expand, and you might just spend the rest of the festival trying to find that mystery tanguero/a with whom you had such a magical connection.

Originating in the blues dance scene in Toulouse, Neotango DJ Nueva Guardia introduced this extraordinary experience to the European neotango community, and Neotango DJ Jean-Marc spread it far and wide, from Berlin to Buenos Aires. As far as we know, Neotango LA at the Gavito Tango Festival was the first time a Nocturna has been presented at a tango festival in the United States. Don’t miss this very special experience!

Limited to 70 dancers, first-come, first-served. Meet us in the Neotango room Friday and Saturday night at 1am and blow your tango mind. xoxo

Wouldn't you know, I then saw a different event, a Milonga (Tango dance party) that is to be held in the dark. I had not heard of this before. I'm curious, has anyone tried this? What did you think? I can imagine positives and negatives.

 

[Brummbaer]

I'd say it was just a little contrived, artificial, and 'new experience' seeking. I'm fairly short-sighted, and don't usually dance wearing my glasses, so it's all a bit of a blur anyway (let's not delve again into the issues of inviting, and accepting, via cabeceo/mirada in an inappropriate environment!). I only need to see (be aware of) who's close to us to avoid collisions, and I sense where we are on the floor. Some milongas, of course, are held in an environment tending towards '70's disco' with reduced lighting, except for coloured lights on the walls. In a crowded milonga it's advisable to see who's around to protect each other (memories of some #_?€!! in London, lost in vals, where both he and his partner had their eyes closed on an extremely crowded floor. Memories of navigating around the Arc de Triomphe...)

There are, of course, 'blind cafés' where you eat in the dark. I prefer to see to experience what I'm eating (and hope the chef was competent in finding the appropriate ingredients and presenting the meal). That's not to denigrate those who can't see and experience things differently.

I could envisage for some, in a certain age range and life situation, that a 'magical experience and connection' might be their desire.The German saying: Im Dunkeln ist gut munkeln has many interpretations.

 

[opendoor]

I've been doing tango for a while, so I've tried them all:

-dark milonga,
-naked milonga,
-silent milonga,
-augmented milonga.

Still, the best milonga still is the traditional milonga. Why: Because I only want to dance with the best dancers around. I don't change dance partners randomly anymore. Dancing should be recreational, not painful. And the principle of the dark milonga explicitly is mixing.

 

[Bailango]

The Tango Gavito festival is happening soon, in Los Angeles, California. 600+ attendees are anticipated, and the musicality lectures looked especially good. Anyway, one of the festival features is dancing in the dark. From the web site:

Neotango Festival Los Angeles | Gavito Tango Festival

Get tickets now for Neotango Festival Los Angeles at the Gavito Tango Festival and enjoy three nights of neo milongas.

gavitotangofestival.com

Nocturna – THE ART OF DARKNESS​

30 minutes that might just change your (tango) life

Explore the dark side of tango with us as we turn off the lights and dance to a sensual, intimate set of alternative and classical music, in complete darkness. You will wear a luminescent wrist band, and the ronda will turn into a beautiful field of floating fireflies. We will change partners after every song, magical connections will be made, your senses will expand, and you might just spend the rest of the festival trying to find that mystery tanguero/a with whom you had such a magical connection.

Originating in the blues dance scene in Toulouse, Neotango DJ Nueva Guardia introduced this extraordinary experience to the European neotango community, and Neotango DJ Jean-Marc spread it far and wide, from Berlin to Buenos Aires. As far as we know, Neotango LA at the Gavito Tango Festival was the first time a Nocturna has been presented at a tango festival in the United States. Don’t miss this very special experience!

Limited to 70 dancers, first-come, first-served. Meet us in the Neotango room Friday and Saturday night at 1am and blow your tango mind. xoxo

Wouldn't you know, I then saw a different event, a Milonga (Tango dance party) that is to be held in the dark. I had not heard of this before. I'm curious, has anyone tried this? What did you think? I can imagine positives and negatives.

It is only limited to 70 dancers. With 600 attendees that very less. How many will be turned away. Change after every song. Will wrist band indicate whether follower or leader if it is dark. It says it is for 30 minutes only.

In dark how will people dancing alternate not collide into others

 

[Bailango]

I'd say it was just a little contrived, artificial, and 'new experience' seeking.

Exactly what I felt after reading the description. At first I thought milonga where lights are turned off when the tanda starts.

(let's not delve again into the issues of inviting, and accepting, via cabeceo/mirada in an inappropriate environment!).

You can’t. It is dark. You change after every song. So you ask the nearest person to you in the dark.

I only need to see (be aware of) who's close to us to avoid collisions, and I sense where we are on the floor.

If people can’t dance within their space in broad light, I wonder what will do in the dark!!

There are, of course, 'blind cafés' where you eat in the dark.

I don’t think I will fancy eating in dark where I can’t see where is what on my plate.

 

[opendoor]

..If people can’t dance within their space in broad light, I wonder what will do in the dark!!

They wave their hand with the glowing marker wildly around. This marks the space they claim. There were also dancers who have somehow managed to secretly attach the luminous bracelet to the follower's foot. Then you can easily double your space with wide boleos and high piernazos. However, that wasn't what the organizers intended. But whoever has stupid ideas... But I guess that will not happen in the States.

 

[Brummbaer]

They wave their hand with the glowing marker wildly around. This marks the space they claim.

Reminds me of the recommended approach to crossing the road in certain overly-congested cities in Vietnam - the cyclists, scooters, motorbikes, tuk-tuks, auto-rickshaws, etc navigate around your space you mark by waving your arm, and you hope the larger vehicles stop. Doesn't work too well if it's more westernised with more heavy vehicles!

 

[Tango Distance]

The Gavito Festival Nocturna event had an interesting sign:
NOCTURNA
CODE OF SAFETY & KINDNESS
Phones and wearables off -- hearts on.
Invite kindly, accept with grace.
Dance small, stay mindful.
No touch you wouldn't do in the light.
If you feel unsafe: say "I need some light!" We are here for you.
End each dance with thanks.
Connection, safety, and respect, always.

It is sad the event needed to say to be appropriate with touch. I did not go to this event, my story below is for another event.

The windows were covered with thick black plastic. The DJ station was covered, too.

The logistics were explained in advance. Leaders wore a glowing band on their left wrists. Followers did not have a band. Partners were switched after every song (usually it is every 3 or 4 songs for Argentine Tango). After a song, leaders would put the glowing bands up in the air, and followers would claim leaders.

There were twice as many followers as leaders; that I saw all leaders were male and all followers female. The Nocturna part was the middle part of the milonga. Nocturna was announced. I suddenly hear a pattering of rain on a metal roof. No, that's not quite right, it is a stampede of Tanguera gazelles running to the exit! I flatten myself against a wall for safety as the stampede went by. OK, I exaggerate, but not by much! In a couple of minutes a bunch of followers left, and now the event had more men than women! I did literally flatten myself against a wall, to not clog up the exit.

Here are some of my memories of the event:

• The followers would peer closely at my face, trying to see who I was, and I think they could not tell by sight. While it was pretty dark, I could see the other couples to navigate.
• Initially my balance seemed to be a bit off, but I realized I couldn't use vision as much to balance, and then it was fine. I also found out I wanted to just a little, rarely, quick check feet visually.
• I didn't talk the first song at all. My thinking was part of the fun was not knowing with whom you had danced. Everyone was talking, so I did after that, and followers who knew me from other events would find out who I was.
• I think I cycled through most or all of the followers. I had gaps where no one grabbed my hand, so I would sit out. I started sitting out more and more, and then noticed the followers were sitting out, too. It probably went a little longer than ideal.
• Everyone who danced with me behaved, and to my knowledge everyone at the event did, too.
• A follower I didn't know gushed about how great our dance was, it did go well. Later she asked if a 2nd time was OK ("Yes!"). She said she was happy for this 2nd go. This tanda went very well also. She was gushing at the end about how great it was. I wasn't sure who she was and I don't think we danced during the regular part of the milonga. After the event I thought about asking some and trying to I.D. this wonderful dancer, but then decided leaving it a mystery was more fun. Maybe we'll cross paths in the future, and I'll hear an excited voice say "Oh it's you from the Nocturna!" or alternatively maybe I'll just think "That was great, I wonder if she was the mystery lady?"